Bolzano

Bolzano, also known as Bozen, is a bi-lingual town in Northern Italy in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. For the past 20 years during the month of December, it holds a Christmas Market- Mercantino di Natale.

The market expands through out the small city center and has every site, smell, and sound of Christmas. They have a large Christmas tree in the main piazza, a nativity scene, and ornaments, presents, candles, wreaths, Christmas crafts, and sweets popping out from every angle and corner.

Some people from BCSP are taking a trip up there this weekend and since my friend and I aren't able to join them we made a last minute decision Thursday night to catch the first train Friday morning to head up to the famous market. 

We caught a beautiful sunrise during the 4 hour train ride up into the mountains. It felt as if we entered into a different country. The architecture is different, the weather is colder, and there is significantly more German spoken than Italian.

Meghan and I made sure to indulge in bretzels, wurstels, vin brulé and apple cider and the holiday cheer all around. 

Milano

   Saturday I took a day trip to Milan with my friend Hope. We went with the intention of seeing two exhibitions: Caravaggio, an Impossible Exhibition, and Salvador Dalì, Il Sogno Si Avvicina.  We first stopped at the Carvaggio exhibition and the woman working asked us if we knew that all the paintings were replicas. We hadn't known so we didn't spend the money and we skipped it- so unfortunately we didn't see any Caravaggio.

Dalì's work is breathtaking and inspiring. Destino is a short animation film he worked on with Walt Disney 

At this time of year Milan is crawling with markets full of trinkets and the such for potential Christmas gifts and lots of goodies like chocolate covered nuts, dried fruit, and cheese.

We stopped at the  famous Panificio Luini and got delicious deep fried panzerotti filled with spicy salami and mozzarella. This is a hot spot for lunch or a snack in Milan- two lines spill out the doors and there is a bouncer- all just for a delicious traditional pugliese calzone.

Mild December

It's  two weeks into December and the weather is beautiful. I can't complain about having 50 degree days with sun and shine- perfect weather for passing my first exam in Italian Cinema. Classes are almost coming to end, however the rest of my exams don't come until the end of January. 

Until them I'm busying Christmas shopping, enjoying a lit up bologna, finishing up my classes, and getting ready for the holidays. 

Christmas Market

 

The Christmas market is now open in Strada Maggiore. It's a little market overflowing with tinsel, ornaments, twinkle lights, pine cones, manger scenes, and every other imaginable Christmas decoration available.

It also has handmade scarves, hats, purses, jewelry, and other goods plus lots of candied nuts, chocolate, and tradition Italian sweets such as panettone,  torrone, and breads.

The little market under the porticoes is crowded with Italians shopping for the holidays and brings a little Christmas joy to Bologna now that all the snow has melted.

Snowy Sunday

Cioccolato

From Wednesday the 24th to Sunday the 28th Bologna hosted its 7th annual chocolate festival Cioccoshow: " the magic of chocolate"

They started setting up the stands in Piazza Maggiore, through Via degli Orefici to Via Santo Stefano over a week ago and when they finally opened they were filled with chocolate delight.

I enjoyed all sorts of delicious treats throughout the weekend-

chocolate truffles in pistachio, coffee, rum, caramel, honey, hazelnut ... hot chocolate, which is more like dark chocolate melted- so rich, filling, and almost sickening. Also chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate liqueur.

Along with lots of chocolate, there was lots of rain, sun, and snow. This makes winter now official.

An Italian Thanksgiving

This is definitely the best Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving meal I've had away from home. BCSP was very kind and helped us Americans celebrate one of our favorite holidays. We ate at Trattoria Scacco Matto, with all the students, and the professors from the pre-session and other people who have played an important role in making it possible for us to study abroad in Bologna this year.

We started out with a delicious pumpkin soup which tasted like the fresh innards of a pumpkin, flavorful but yet a light texture. Then they brought out the turkey, and the director and his son made the first cut. It was a turkey stuffed with a blend of ground turkey, onion, and other spices, it was rich and creamy. And they did it just right by serving mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, and a salad. To finish off the meal we had apple pie in a sweet cinnamon sauce.

It was a delicious meal in the company of good friends made while in Bologna, full of laughter, and some embarrassment of our knowledge in U.S. history as one girl continued on her family tradition with a Thanksgiving quiz.

Giardini Margherita

The Giardini Margherita a beautiful large garden on the south side of Bologna. This is usually the hot spot come spring- but at the end of November it shows the last signs of autumn and the budding signs of winter.

The temperature has turned rather rainy and chilly, and the scarves, boots, hats, and mittens oh and umbrellas have come out to greet us.

This past week, the second half of the second of the semester started, so some classes have ended, others have just started, and some have changed their focus to be on something new.

and bologna is still beautiful.

Cafè Americano

ITIT is probably the only coffee shop in Bologna that sells American drip coffee.

Not only does it have American style black watery brewed coffee, they also have homemade soup daily, a plethora of sandwiches, comfy arm chairs and a little bon iver or buena vista social club playing.


I think this is going to be the new place to hit the books.

Modena

Saturday I took a short day trip to Modena with the intent on buying the famous modenese balsamic vinegar. Unfortunately it wasn't as easy to find as we thought it would be, and it was rather on the expensive side. The trip was still worth it. Modena is significantly smaller than Bologna, but has beautiful gardens and is bursting with autumn color.